The Ohio University LGBT Center’s Trans Empowerment Week aims to educate about trans identities while providing support and celebration to the trans community on campus.
This is the third year OU is celebrating Trans Empowerment Week, and Jesper Beckholt, a senior studying English and coordinator of the week’s events, said they hope to not just skim the surface of the trans world.
“I think sometimes things get so focused on getting past the basic understanding of what it is to be ‘trans,’ we don’t really get to talk about the specific issues affecting our community,” Beckholt said.
As Trans Empowerment Week follows Student Senate’s Pride Week, celebrating all LGBTQA communities, director of the LGBT center Delfin Bautista said this week allows for trans identities to take center stage.
“The trans community often gets slighted,” Bautista said. “LGBT rolls off the tongue, but oftentimes the T doesn’t get much airtime.”
Morgan Morgan, a senior studying communications studies and coordinator of the week’s events, said she also agrees that trans individuals are not always celebrated.
“For the allies of the trans community, I think this week is a very good opportunity to get a lot of information, and to learn more through the stories of the people that we claim to care so much about as their allies,” Morgan said.
The week is comprised mostly of “Dine and Discuss” forums, where students can dive deep into conversations on topics such as body image, language and issues in the trans community.
A self-defense class held by the Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization will boast a trans-inclusive atmosphere, one that Beckholt said they are looking forward to.
“We have a lot of (self-defense workshops) throughout the year for various things,” Beckholt said. “But having one specifically that’s like, ‘hey, this is a safe space for trans people to come and learn self defense,’ I think is really important.”
Bautista said setting these trans identities apart to honor them and educate about them is important to the conversation on campus.
“One, it’s important just as a movement to highlight and lift up the experiences of trans people,” Bautista said. “But two, it is a need from within the university just because a lot of the questions that we’ve received have to do with trans identities.”
Beckholt said they hope to create events and a week surrounding trans identities to not only educate, but also empower.
“Part of (the week) too is to make sure, specifically the trans community here, knows that we’re represented and we’re cared about by the center and hopefully make this a safer environment for trans people,” Beckholt said.
Morgan said she is excited to support and let the trans community know they are represented and cared for in the community.
“We’re not necessarily seeking to just educate those who are not trans, we’re also seeking to lift up those trans folk on our campus and in the rest of the world who want to be seen and want to be visible,” Morgan said.
What: Dine and Discuss: Trans People and Body Image
When: Noon, Monday
Where: LGBT Center, Baker University Center 354
Admission: Free
What: Book Discussion: A Perfect Peace
When: Noon, Tuesday
Where: Multicultural Center, Baker University Center 205
Admission: Free
What: Dine and Discuss: When Language Fails Us
When: Noon, Wednesday
Where: LGBT Center, Baker University Center 354
Admission: Free
What: Trans SafeZone 201
When: 3 p.m., Wednesday
Where: Baker 233
Admission: Free
What: Dine and Discuss: Trans representation in the Media
When: Noon Thursday
Where: LGBT Center, Baker University Center 354
Admission: Free
What: Street Safety Seminar
When: 7 p.m., Thursday
Where: South Pole in Nelson Dining Hall
Admission: Free
What: Movie Night: Pay It No Mind
When: 4 p.m., Friday
Where: LGBT Center, Baker University Center 354
Admission: Free
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